KW Plastics is getting the go-ahead to use post-consumer polypropylene to make reusable crates or pallets to hold fresh produce and shelled eggs, the company said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued what is called a “no objection letter” to the Troy, Ala.-based company to create the crates and pallets to hold relative large quantities of the foods, the company said.
The resin is food grade PP and is approved for levels up to 100 percent content, KW Plastics reported.
“KW Plastics increasingly drives the expansion of HDPE and PP recycled resin markets by the ongoing investment in technology, capital improvements, production efficiency and market diversification,” said Scott Saunders, general manager for KW Plastics Recycling Division, in a statement.
The FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, in the letter, said the recycling process “mainly involves a series of shredding, sink-float, washing and drying of mixed PP/LDPE feedstock” with no additives.
The federal government also noted KW's strict source control over feedstock that only includes food grade PP and LDPE.
“We have reviewed the information that you have provided and found that because of strict source control, there is little likelihood of unacceptable contaminant levels in your recycled PP/LDPE blend,” the FDA letter to KW Plastics states.